Did Russia really try to buy back military equipment its exported to other countries?

In November 2023, the Wall Street Journal published an in-depth report covering secret Russian attempts to buy back military equipment and defense systems that it had previously exported to other countries.

The report claimed the Kremlin had been in secret talks in April 2023 with Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, and Pakistan as part of a plan to bolster its own military arsenal with equipment and parts sold to the four nations. 

Several unnamed sources familiar with the secret discussions revealed that Russia had been trying to get back some of the parts that its defense industry exported, and some of these attempts were successful. 

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For example, it was reported that a Russian delegation of officials visiting Cairo in April petitioned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to return over a hundred helicopter engines to Moscow that the country had purchased. 

Three unnamed sources claimed that Al Sisi agreed to the request and delivery of 150 helicopter engines was set to begin in December 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting. However, this was not the only incident. 

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A former Russian intelligence officer told the American news outlet that Russian officials had also looked to Pakistan, Belarus, and Brazil to acquire engines for the country’s attack and transport helicopter fleets. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By SSgt. Angelita Lawrence

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia has asked Pakistan for at least 4 Mi-8m helicopter engines while Brazil has been asked to return 12 Mi-35m engines and Belarus was asked to return 6 Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter engines. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin

Russia had lost a significant number of helicopters at that time following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The Dutch open-source intelligence firm Oryx, which only counts verifiable Russian losses, put the number of helicopters lost as of November 14th, 2023 at 132. 

Most of the helicopters were destroyed by Ukraine with Russia losing 102 from the time the fighting since full-scale war began to the time the Wall Street Journal published its report. However, 28 helicopters were damaged by Ukraine while Kyiv captured 2 helicopters from Russia. 

As of March 31st, Russia has lost 135 helicopters during its invasion of Ukraine. 103 have been destroyed while 30 have been damaged and a further 2 captured. Few have been taken out since the Wall Street Journal's reporting in November 2023.

“Russia spent decades building its arms trade,” said one person familiar with the secret talks to retrieve some of Russia's exported parts. “Now they’re going back in secret to their customers trying to buy back what they sold them.” 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia was not only seeking to get back some of the weapons that it sold but also noted that Moscow was sacrificing parts of its export business to help the war effort in Ukraine. 

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In March, CNN reported that relations between Moscow and New Delhi were becoming strained after an Indian parliamentary report revealed that Russia was unable to meet its commitments to India because of the war in Ukraine. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Prime Minister's Office, GODL-India

The Indian official quoted in the report explained that budget estimation projections were down because some of the country’s deliveries from Russia weren't taking place because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Armenia also bore the brunt of reduced Russian arms shipments according to the Wall Street Journal, which noted that the country received few shipments of the critical Grad and Uragan multiple rocket launch system ammunition in 2023. 

“Much of Moscow’s efforts to buy back Russian arms have come as the Kremlin pushed back against an offensive by Ukraine’s forces in the east and south of the country,” wrote Thomas Grove and Summer Said of the Wall Street Journal.

“With that offensive now slowing, Russia is seeking to retake the initiative on the battlefield, although it is unclear whether the new supplies will give Moscow the resources it needs to step up its attacks,” Grove and Said added.

How Russia’s cannibalization of its arms exports in November 2023 will affect its future business is unknown, but Grove and Said reported Moscow’s 2022 arms export profits likely only reached $8 billion, which would have been half of the $14.5 billion the country made from arms exports in 2021.